Sunday, November 02, 2014

Back in business

So this afternoon despite having something of a fear of heights I was at the top of a long ladder putting the loop antenna back in place at the top of one of the two masts and aligning it with a northerly direction so it would work in sync with the rotator. I was doing this after being without the loop for a week or two while waiting for a new part. Like I mentioned in my previous post, it has been a frustrating time as I haven't been able to receive signals on MW with anything like their usual strength.

 But the good news is everything is working fine now and I am listening to the regular Sunday evening programme of Witte Tornado on 1647 kHz as I write this. And the signal is pretty good, despite propagation conditions not being great for hearing the Dutch pirates - I can hear a legal station from the US on 1610 with a fair signal.

 It was also good to hear Matrix for the first time in ages during the late afternoon. Exactly two years ago he was over here in England to celebrate my wedding, so it was fitting to hear him on the radio today.

 Earlier in the day I was listening to shortwave with the inverted v antenna. Skip was short during the morning but as we went into the afternoon, stations further afield started arriving with good signals. One of the best of the day was the Free Radio Service Holland, who could be heard on 7700 and 9300 kHz with a repeat of last weekend's programmes that were being aired again due to the SW blackout seven days earlier. I made a recording as Peter Verbruggen handed over to Roger Davis, the voice of Britain Radio International for so many years . . .


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2 comments:

  1. WireUKTuesday, 4 November 2014 at 21:55:00 GMT

    Great to read that you're 'back in business' with the loop.

    FRS Holland was a great signal on both those frequencies at the weekend. I was listening the Degen with just the telescopic antenna. I was tuning around whilst sat in the conservatory enjoying the warmth from the sun.

    I'm still trying to decide if I would call this 'normal listening' even if the weather was 'abnormal'

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  2. 1990's Free Radio ListenerWednesday, 5 November 2014 at 08:46:00 GMT

    As ever, an interesting read. Regards.

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